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In front of the old coastal watchtowers, bastions were created to allow artillery to be fired with better coverage and a smaller defensive perimeter: the work transformed the initial tower into a fortress with fortified corners.
From Sant Carles Castle to the Portopí Lighthouse: a route through Palma's guardians
29/11/2025
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Over the centuries the castle was rearmed: in the 19th century artillery pieces were installed and, later, the fortress became home to the Military History Museum.
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Construction and maintenance were financed by various entities (crown, institutions and trade guilds) and the works used local materials transported by donkeys; work was often subcontracted to small work teams to save money.
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The castle's profile has changed in several phases: the great 17th-century expansion (Vicenç Mut's project, 1662) and the successive restorations until the opening to the public of the southwest bastion in recent decades are part of four major remodeling phases visible today.
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Today the site combines defensive architecture and military collections – an ideal way to understand how the need to protect the port (and trade) shaped the evolution of the wall and bastions over the centuries.
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The Portopí lighthouse is one of the oldest operational lighthouses in the world – documented since 1300 – and since 1617 it has occupied the old Signal Tower, after the old location became close to what is now the Sant Carles castle.
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Over time, its lighting has evolved: from oil-powered light (until the 19th century), to paraffin, and finally electricity, integrating a reverberation optic since 1927 —the only one in service in Spain today.
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Until 1971 the lighthouse not only guided ships, but also served as a signal tower: the building indicated —by means of balls and later flags— the origin and types of ships that entered the port of Palma.
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Today, the former lighthouse keeper's house houses an exhibition of maritime signals and historical lighting instruments, which recall the technological evolution of the lighthouse and the life of the lighthouse keepers over more than seven centuries.
